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Mistrial called in death of infant alleged at hands of North St. Paul man

Jury deliberates 15 hours; judge sets meeting for Monday

Pioneer Press

Posted:
03/28/2010 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
03/28/2010 06:07:01 AM CDT

A judge declared a mistrial Saturday night in the murder trial of a North St. Paul man accused of killing his girlfriend's 9-week-old daughter.

Ramsey County District Judge M. Michael Monahan ruled that the jury's inability to reach a verdict after nearly 15 hours' deliberation was reason enough to end the trial in the case of Louis Darcell Jones, 26.

The judge made his ruling about 7 p.m., over the defense's objections. The prosecution and defense will meet with the judge Monday to decide what to do next.

Jones was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the March 4, 2009, death of Rhania Jones. Louis Jones was dating the infant's mother, and the child had been left in his care.

The jury of seven women and five men began deliberations Friday after hearing closing arguments from Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Jill Gerber and defense attorney Carole Finneran. Jurors worked late into the night, then resumed deliberating Saturday morning.

Rhania was the daughter of Rebecca Shaw, who was Jones' girlfriend. While she worked during the day, Jones cared for the infant. When Shaw got home from work Feb. 27, 2009, they took Rhania to an emergency room because the infant was having trouble breathing.

Days later, the family decided to end the infant's life support.

In closing arguments, each side presented very different theories of what happened in the hours before Rhania showed up at the emergency room.

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The prosecution said it was child abuse, while the defense said the infant suffered from other problems that led to her death.

After Rhania died, Jones told police investigators the infant had fallen off a couch. He did not testify at his trial, but Finneran argued that the charges against Jones stemmed from authorities' "mythic assumption" that child abuse caused Rhania's injuries.

She told the jury that although Jones was not Rhania's biological father, he still loved the child, and when she died, he "lost a daughter and he lost a family."

Finneran argued that the infant's body lacked external injuries that usually accompany violent shaking, and she noted that doctors called as expert witnesses said the bleeding in Rhania's brain could have been caused by trauma at birth.

Her arguments were based, in part, on the testimony of a neurosurgeon who said the baby's injuries didn't appear to have been caused by child abuse. He said the injuries could have been inflicted inadvertently when the infant's head was "molded and squeezed" during childbirth.

The doctor said Rhania's bleeding occurred weeks or months earlier and that for some reason, the body's normal healing mechanisms didn't work properly.

Gerber scoffed at those notions in her closing arguments, saying the falling-off-the-couch story was "made up by the defendant after he needed an excuse." Indeed, a police investigator testified that Jones gave different explanations of what happened.

One investigator who testified said Jones often reacted angrily when questioned.

"You all just trying to blame somebody," the police officer quoted Jones as saying.

The prosecution presented its own expert witnesses, who testified the injuries could not have happened the way Jones claimed and that Rhania died as a result of child abuse.

Jones had convictions in 2008 for aggravated robbery and obstructing the legal process, and in 2005 for obstruction and fleeing police.